Yannick Noah

As the second day of the French Open changed from festive, warm sunshine to gray, chilly overcast, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker and Andre Agassi came to the party and Yannick Noah left it. Maybe, he won't return. Lendl, Becker and Agassi scored straight-set victories in their first-round matches, but Noah, the 1983 champion, fell to 25-year-old Luiz Mattar of Brazil, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4. Noah, who recently turned 29, was rarely in control against Mattar and afterward said he is thinking about retiring.

Joakim Noah's contributions to Florida's second consecutive national basketball championship become all the more impressive when you consider that while he was advancing, round after round, in the NCAA tournament he was also advancing on "American Idol." No one has ever seen Noah and Sanjaya in the same place, right? The wild-haired wonders have more in common than bad barbers and a curious physical resemblance. Both were genetically predisposed to their roads to celebrity.

Yannick Noah will be out of tennis for more than a month after burning himself while trying to light a barbecue, his doctor said today. The Frenchman, ranked 14th in the world, received second-degree burns to his right thigh Monday after a can of gasoline exploded and set his trousers on fire. His doctor, Dominique Leviet, said the burns will take at least three weeks to heal and he will need to rest for at least a month. Noah will miss a tournament in Switzerland starting Oct.

A piece of Indiana hardwood became Joakim Noah's red clay of Roland Garros on Monday night. "It not only feels good, it smells good, it tastes good. I can't even describe it," the son of Yannick Noah said after collapsing flat on his back on the court after Florida won the NCAA title, then stayed there, basking in the moment. You half expected Noah to fall to his knees and clench his fists with emotion the way his father did when he won the French Open in 1983.

There's trouble brewing in men's tennis these days. Big trouble. At 32, Jimmy Connors is beginning to show the wear of 12 years on the professional tour. Ivan Lendl keeps trying out new ideas--new diets, new serve-and-volley strategies--and keeps spinning his wheels at No. 2. The young Swedes, although impressive as a unit, are not even close to approaching Borgian heights as individuals. Atop the Assn. of Tennis Professionals computer rankings, McEnroe reigns supreme. Never before has No.

Yannick Noah quit as French Davis Cup captain to pursue his career as a recording artist. Noah, who was captain of the French team that won the Davis Cup last year, bowed out two days after a quarterfinal loss to Switzerland.

Yannick Noah of France has pulled out of next week's $1-million Italian Open men's tennis championships because of a foot injury, organizers said today. Noah, whose aggressive go-for-broke style made him a crowd favorite at the Foro Italico, won the Italian Open in 1985. It was not immediately known who will replace Noah in the 64-man field.

Joakim Noah loves his dad. He just doesn't want to be his dad. Joakim Noah admires his dad. He wants to be admired too -- as a basketball player, student, college graduate, NBA player. Not as the son of Yannick Noah, former top-10 tennis player and French Open champion. And for Yannick that is the best thing a father can hope for. Joakim is a 6-foot-11 sophomore and budding star for Florida, which has been the surprise team of this college basketball season with a 14-0 record and a No.

John McEnroe rallied to defeat Yannick Noah, 6-7 (6), 7-5, 10-8 in the Success Magazine Champions Tournament on Friday at the Newport Beach Tennis Club. Noah had 15 aces in the 1-hour 59-minute round-robin match, which he started with three consecutive aces. McEnroe won the second set to force the tiebreaker, which he trailed, 6-3, before rallying to win. McEnroe will play Mats Wilander in another round-robin match today.

Theater of the absurd or a tennis match? It's always a little bit of both when John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors get together. McEnroe provided most of the theatrics, but Connors played the better tennis and won, 6-4, 6-4, Sunday in the finals of The Challenge in front of 4,444 at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach. The Challenge title was Connors' third in four years on the senior tour. The loss was McEnroe's fourth in a row in the finals of The Challenge.

Has it really been 15 years since Yannick Noah won the French Open? Apparently so. Noah, dreadlocks and all, looked as trim and youthful as ever. But with his mind on the World Cup and his backhand on permanent vacation, he was no match for the razor-sharp game of John McEnroe Friday at The Challenge, the senior tennis tour's version of the Skins Game. Noah was embarrassed by McEnroe, 6-1, 6-3, in 65 minutes before 3,460 at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

Has it really been 15 years since Yannick Noah won the French Open? Apparently so. Noah, dreadlocks and all, looked as trim and youthful as ever. But with his mind on the World Cup and his backhand on permanent vacation, he was no match for the razor-sharp game of John McEnroe on Friday at The Challenge, the seniors tennis tour's version of the Skins Game. Noah was embarrassed by McEnroe, 6-1, 6-3, in 65 minutes before 3,460 at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

Yannick Noah quit as French Davis Cup captain to pursue his career as a recording artist. Noah, who was captain of the French team that won the Davis Cup last year, bowed out two days after a quarterfinal loss to Switzerland.

The French won the Davis Cup for the first time in 59 years, then started behaving in their normal, demure fashion, one befitting citizens of the capital of culture. They formed a Conga line. That was shortly after Guy Forget threw his racket and hit Yannick Noah in the foot, which was shortly before Forget stripped down to his shorts and threw his clothes into the stands. Forget rode atop Noah's shoulders, followed by Noah being hoisted in the air, fists clenched, crying.